Galileo Restoration Update - Jan 2012

[jayrath]

ZapBrannigan wrote:

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I would agree with that in many cases, but the shuttlecraft mockup was in a state of advanced decomposition.

We're agreed. I was referring to the Enterprise model.

As for the Galileo, I'm sure we're all very grateful that such a dedicated group has taken this project on, and that it's work is proceeding so carefully.

[Therin of Andor]

jayrath wrote:

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As for the Galileo, I'm sure we're all very grateful that such a dedicated group has taken this project on, and that it's work is proceeding so carefully.

Sadly, there will be fannish outrage, no matter how they proceed, and no matter how great the final result might look to some other fans' eyes. As with all things Trek, there is a tendency for IDIC to be tossed out the airlock.

[RPJOB]

My Name Is Legion wrote:

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Sorry, no. The only part of the ship that was not repainted - and more than once - was the top surface of the saucer, the bridge and the teardrop-shaped bubble it rests on. That's just the truth. I know; you don't.



It always is; it always is.

Nonetheless, that would be the appropriate response for an effort, undertaken for the relative pittance that NASM was willing to "invest," that rescued the "precious shrine" from a future in storage or the scrap heap.

Exactly. It's a paint job, undertaken during the process of saving the model from ongoing deterioration and decades of neglect.

But all some people have done for two decades is kvetch and whine about it.

There are some other minor inaccuracies in the restoration, BTW. The research the museum had undertaken on the model was limited. When they started out they didn't even know who had built it.

If he saw it in 1990 before the big anniversary Star Trek exhibit that included all the props and costumes then he saw it pre-restoration. It did look, as he says, terrible. It was always being moved from one place to another to make way for more important exhibits. Toward the last they stopped running the internal lights, just taping up the opening on the port side where the cable was run out to a power source.

The spinning nacelle effect never worked prior to the Miarecki restoration. The model arrived at NASM with the nacelle caps smashed and the mechanism broken; they put painted domes on the nacelles, plugged in the cables and whatever lights happened to be working were what they used. At one point I think they did stick some flashing light bulbs behind the domes.

After the annversary exhibit ended the ship went on a national tour with many of the other elements of the exhibit. It was displayed suspended from cables attached to a plexiglass "cradle" to support the saucer and nacelles. The cradle was custom fabricated by a company near College Park, MD.

AFAIK, the cradle support system hasn't been used at any time since the model was returned to display at NASM. That's somewhat a shame, because the model is disintegrating again. It's not immediately evident, certainly not in all photos, but the saucer is sagging forward of its own weight; the nacelles are sagging out of alignment; laminate is peeling off bits like the impulse engines and windows are slipping out of place. This model wasn't built to last fifty years. The materials used were too heavy and not strong enough to support it.

Really the only thing that would stabilize it long-term would be to tear it apart and build it up on a metal armature - essentially, using the "skin" - which would be mega expensive and might violate the museum's archival standards.

Will the Smithsonian spend big bucks to rescue this thing a second time? Don't hold your breath.

Yes, people should be grateful for a restoration regardless of the outcome. To do otherwise is just wrong.

[mach7]

Hey, they ponied up the money to buy her, move her, and restore her.

They can paint her purple with green racing stripes, they own her.

I'm just happy she is not going to rot away.

[T'Bonz]

I can't wait to see the end result.

[ZapBrannigan]

Robert Comsol wrote:

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Very nice pictures, I'd also like to recommend Phil Broad's collection.
When in 1974 did you take these pictures? Wasn't the Enterprise a new attraction for the Bicentennial in 1976 (that's when I took my first pictures)?

Good catch. I checked my notes, and in fact my family's trip to D.C. was in August, 1977. I'm amending the post with my snapshots in it. We went to the Kennedy Space Center in '74. Good times.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Aside from being just plain inappropriate and overwrought, Forbin's analogy and the other fannish indignation has the situation just plain backward. Here's a similarly ridiculously exaggerated analogy that has the virtue nonetheless of being more accurate:

Mom is dying of a degenerative illness. She goes off to a clinic and returns, in better health than she's seen in twenty years and virtually cured. But as she comes off the plane some of the kids shout "Mom has never worn her hair that way! It's the wrong color! The clinic beauticians are incompetent! Ruined forever! Aggggh!"

I live about five miles from the museum, BTW. I've seen the model hundreds of times, in every version of maintenance/restoration and every display location.

[Forbin]

It's more like Mom came off the plane with a face transplant from Nick Cage.

[Robert Comsol]

My Name Is Legion wrote:

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The only part of the ship that was not repainted - and more than once - was the top surface of the saucer, the bridge and the teardrop-shaped bubble it rests on.

F.C. Durant's description of desired restoration work by Rogay Inc. from 04-30-74 does not include a paint job of the hull. Doug Drexler's Smithsonian report from 03-01-77 states for the primary hull "Imperceptable surface detail - Radiating gridwork, flush. Top only." I can't help the feeling that with your paint job claim you'd like to make us believe there had been grid lines on the rest of the hull that vanished in this mysterious "paint job"...
(amazing that all the tiny engineering hull numbers, markings and letters visible in the various pictures posted here were not affected by this mysterious "paint job")

Bob

[Warped9]

T'Bonz wrote:

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I can't wait to see the end result.

Me, too.

That said I am expecting there to be a lot of discussion over this when the restoration is complete. And to add further fuel to the fire Round2 announced awhile ago that they're going ahead with development and production of a 1/32 scale Galileo shuttlecraft model kit. It will be done with the same care and attention Gary Kerr and the folks at Round2 exercised with the development of their big 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise kit. Expect lots of discussion as details of that kit come to light.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Forbin wrote:

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It's more like Mom came off the plane with a face transplant from Nick Cage.

No. Not in the least. The cosmetic analogy is by far the most appropriate.

[Forbin]

Forgive me, I forgot you're never wrong.

[Robert Comsol]

Forbin wrote:

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It's more like Mom came off the plane with a face transplant from Nick Cage.

You forgot to indicate whether Mom originally looked better or worse than Nick Cage.

But it's noteworthy to compare the Smithsonian's restoration concerns for Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis next to the Enterprise's: The protective coating has yellowed with age, resulting in the golden hue seen today. Smithsonian officials have indicated that the varnish will be removed, and the nose panels restored to their original silver appearance, the next time the aircraft is taken down for conservation.

Now that's the way to do it, but of course one may suggest to paint the plane in red so that new audiences won't mistake the plane for one from the 1950's because of its silver surface.

Bob

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The model on temporary loan in 1971, prior to its NASM days:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...ert/71ent2.jpg

And as it appeared upon first reassembly after its arrival at the Smithsonian:

http://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/640/74-3977_640.jpg

[Forbin]

That's Gary Kerr himself in that first photo!